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Pied Goshawk
The pied goshawk (''Tachyspiza albogularis'') is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found on Bougainville Island and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. This species was formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy Five subspecies are recognised: * ''T. a. eichhorni'' ( Hartert, EJO, 1926) – Feni Islands (east of southeast New Ireland, northeast Bismarck Archipelago) * ''T. a. woodfordi'' ( Sharpe, 1888) – Buka to Malaita and Ulawa (north of Makira; north to central south Solomon Islands, except New Georgia group) * ''T. a. gilva'' (Mayr, 1945) – New Georgia group (central west Solomon Islands) * ''T. a. albogularis'' ( Gray, GR, 1870) – Makira and satellites (southeast Solomon Islands) * ''T. a. sharpei'' ( Oustalet, 1875) – Utupua and Vanikoro ( Temotu=Santa Cruz Islands, southeast Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother of the zoologist John Edward Gray and the son of the botanist Samuel Frederick Gray. George Gray's most important publication was his ''Genera of Birds'' (1844–49), illustrated by David William Mitchell and Joseph Wolf, which included 46,000 references. Biography He was bornon 8 July 1808 in Little Chelsea, London, to Samuel Frederick Gray, naturalist and pharmacologist, and Elizabeth (née Forfeit), his wife. He was educated at Merchant Taylor's School. Gray started at the British Museum as Assistant Keeper of the Zoology Branch in 1831. He began by cataloguing insects, and published an ''Entomology of Australia'' (1833) and contributed the entomogical section to an English edition of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buka Island
Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka, Bougainville, Buka on the island. The island is separated by the narrow Buka Passage from the northwestern coast of Bougainville Island, and has an area of approximately . Buka, Bougainville Island and the Tabar Group, Tabar Islands and their surrounding waters are identified as being part of the Solomon Archipelago terrestrial ecoregion and marine ecoregion. History Buka was first occupied by humans in the Paleolithic period, with evidence for human habitation at Kilu Cave some 30,000 years ago. British, Australian and American whaling ships visited the island in the nineteenth century for food, water and wood. The first on record was the ''Eliza'' in 1806, and the last known visit was by the ''Palmetto'' in 1881. The present inhabitants s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Described In 1870
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders. More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have furth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tachyspiza
''Tachyspiza'' is a genus containing goshawks and sparrowhawk in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus ''Accipiter''. Taxonomy The genus ''Tachyspiza'' was introduced in 1844 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup with ''Falco soloensis'' Horsfield (Chinese sparrowhawk) as the type species. The name combines the Ancient Greek ταχυς (''takhus'') meaning "fast" with σπιζιας (''spizias'') meaning "hawk". Species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus ''Accipiter''. Molecular phylogenetic studies found that ''Accipiter'' was polyphyletic and in the subsequent rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the genus ''Tachyspiza'' was resurrected to contain 27 species that were previously placed in ''Accipiter''. The genus contains 27 species: * Shikra, ''Tachyspiza badia'' – Afrotropics and Asia * Nicobar sparrowhawk, ''Tachyspiza butleri'' – Nicobar Islands * Levant sparrowhawk, ''Tachyspiza brevipes'' – b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Cruz Islands
The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately to the southeast of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are considered part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion. The term Santa Cruz Islands is sometimes used to encompass all the islands of Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. Geography The largest island is Nendo Island, Nendö, which is also known as Santa Cruz Island proper. Lata, Solomon Islands, Lata, located on Nendö, is the largest town, and is the capital of Temotu Province. Other islands belonging to the Santa Cruz group are Vanikoro (which is actually made up of two islands, Banie (island), Banie and its small neighbour Teanu (island), Teanu) and Utupua. The table below provides basic data on these three islands. The Santa Cruz Islands are less than five million years old and were pushed upward by the Plate tectonics, tectonic subduction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temotu Province
Temotu (or Te Motu, literally "the island" in Polynesian) is the easternmost province of Solomon Islands. The province was formerly known as Santa Cruz Islands Province. It consists, essentially, of two chains of islands which run parallel to each other from the northwest to the southeast. Its area is . Administrative divisions Temotu Province is sub-divided into the following wards: Temotu Province (pop 21,362) * Reef Islands ** Polynesian Outer Islands (353) ** Fenualoa (1,305) ** Nipua/Nopoli (880) ** Lipe/Temua (796) ** Manuopo (1,030) ** Nenumpo (1,163) * Santa Cruz Islands ** Graciosa Bay (1,264) ** North East Santa Cruz (1,843) ** Nanggu/Lord Howe (1,863) ** Nea/Noole (1,770) ** Nevenema (947) ** Luva Station (2,335) ** Neo (1,558) * isolated islands and groups ** Duff Islands (509) ** Utupua (1,168) ** Vanikoro (1,293) ** Tikopia (1,285) Islands The islands or island groups which make up the province are: * Anuta * Duff Islands (including Taumako) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanikoro
Vanikoro (sometimes wrongly named ''Vanikolo'') is an island in the Santa Cruz Islands, Santa Cruz group, located to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It is part of the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands. The name ''Vanikoro'' is always used as though it referred to a single island, due to both its geophysical and cultural unity. However, technically it is a group of several nearby islands surrounded by a single belt of coral reef. Only the two major islands are inhabited: the bigger one Banie (island), Banie, and the smaller one Teanu (island), Teanu (or Tevai). Other, uninhabited islets in the Vanikoro group include Manieve, Nomianu and Nanunga. The total area of the Vanikoro group is . Population and languages The of Vanikoro consist of two different populations, who tend to live separately. The Melanesians, Melanesian majority, about 800 people, are the descendants of the original population of Vanikoro. As far as we know, they have been present on the island sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utupua
Utupua is an island in the Santa Cruz Islands, located 66 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group, between Vanikoro and Santa Cruz proper (Nendö). This island belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands. Geography Utupua is a high u-shaped island surrounded by a coral reef. Its land surface is and its highest point . Utupua has a population of 848 inhabitants (1999 census) scattered in small villages. The main villages on the island are Avita, Malombo, Tanimbili, Apakho, and Nembao. Utupua has a forested path that leads to viewpoints overlooking the coral reef that encloses the island. History First sighting by Europeans was in September 1595 by the second Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Álvaro de Mendaña. More precisely it was sighted by Isabel Barreto, Lorenzo Barreto while in command of one of the smaller vessels on a local voyage round the then called Santa Cruz, which is today's Nendö Island, Nendö island. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Émile Oustalet
Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet (24 August 1844 – 23 October 1905) was a French zoologist who contributed greatly to ornithology. Oustalet was born at Montbéliard, in the department of Doubs (department), Doubs. He studied at the Ecole des Hautes-Etudes and his first scientific work was on the respiratory organs of dragonfly larvae. He was employed at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, where he succeeded Jules Verreaux as assistant-naturalist in 1875. In 1900 he succeeded Alphonse Milne-Edwards as Professor of Mammalogy. Oustalet became especially interested in birds after the museum received new specimens from Indo-China and Africa. He took a special interest in the birds of China and co-authored ''Les Oiseaux de la Chine'' (1877) with Armand David, and also wrote ''Les Oiseaux du Cambodge'' (1899). He described a specimen from Ilhéu Branco, Branco as a separate species ''Passer brancoensis'' in 1883, which was recognised as the subspecies ''Passer iagoensis brancoe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Mayr
Ernst Walter Mayr ( ; ; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was a German-American evolutionary biologist. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher of biology, and History of science, historian of science. His work contributed to the conceptual revolution that led to the Modern synthesis (20th century), modern evolutionary synthesis of Gregor Mendel, Mendelian genetics, systematics, and Charles Darwin, Darwinian evolution, and to the development of the Species, biological species concept. Although Charles Darwin and others posited that multiple species could evolve from a single common ancestor, the mechanism by which this occurred was not understood, creating the ''species problem''. Ernst Mayr approached the problem with a new definition for species. In his book ''Systematics and the Origin of Species'' (1942) he wrote that a species is not just a group of Morphology (biology), morphologically sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Georgia
New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of Solomon Islands. Geography New Georgia island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of the other larger islands in the province. The island measures approximately long by wide. New Georgia forms part of the southern boundary of the New Georgia Sound. Kolombangara lies across the Kula Gulf to the west, Choiseul Island, Choiseul to the northeast, Vangunu is to the southeast, and Rendova to the southwest, across the Blanche Channel. New Georgia is a volcanic island, surrounded in some places by a coral reef. The highest point is Mount Masse, with an elevation of . The climate is wet and tropical, and the island is subject to frequent cyclones. New Georgia is covered with dense ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
